Hezbollah confirms Israel talks
By Geraldine Chris,WNS Israel Correspondent
JERUSALEM - Hezbollah's leader has confirmed that indirect talks with Israel on a prisoner exchange are under way, describing them as "serious". Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said a United Nations mediator had been meeting officials from both sides, but he provided no further details. Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in July, and killing of eight others, sparked 34 days of fighting. A UN-brokered truce ended the conflict, in which more than 1,200 people died.
"They are serious negotiations... this issue is on track. We are moving ahead," Sheikh Nasrallah told Hezbollah's TV station."We have reached a stage of exchanging ideas, proposals or conditions." He refused to speculate on how long it could take to reach a deal, saying only it depended on "the nature of the negotiations". Israel has so far made no comment on the issue.
Last week, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported that the negotiations had so far been unsuccessful. Hezbollah guerrillas captured the two Israeli soldiers, reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in a cross-border raid into Israel on 12 July. The group has offered to exchange the two Israeli soldiers for Arab prisoners in Israel, but Israel has repeatedly refused. he UN resolution that ended the fighting called for the soldiers' unconditional release. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan then appointed an envoy to follow up the issue. When Hezbollah captured Israeli soldiers in 2000, it took four years before talks succeeded and the bodies of the soldiers were swapped for some 400 Palestinian and 35 Lebanese prisoners. It's not know how the Israeli soldiers died.
posted by wnsworld @ 5:29 PM
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